Best CD Player for under 250 bucks

Im going to upgrade my receiver soon, and the next thing i wanna upgrade is my cd player. now i have a panasonic discman as my cd source. pretty fancy stuff, huh? ive been looking into Denon, Marantz, HK, and NAD cd players. I dont think i want the NAD though, i heard they sound great but they dont last long and arent reliable. so i dont want that. i want a good warm sounding reliable player. i dont care about looks or any of that crap. i just want my cds to sound the best they can with the money i have to spend. How about the Denon CDM 370? all input is appreciated. please keep it under 250 though, im on a tight budget. CD Text would be nice, BUT im not that worried about it. Im just concerned with the sound quality and reliablity, i like analog sound. but please, dont reccomend a SACD player or something to me, i dont have any SACDs or any of that kinda stuff. im srue they're great, but i just wanna keep it simple for now, okay guys? i know the Denon has HDCD on it, but i dont know how u can tell if a cd has that on it or not. can anyone clear me up on that? thanks. what exactly is the difference?
thanks for the help.

Mike, I'll jump in here...
For where you seem to be at, the Denon 370, 5-disc carousel with Burr-Brown HCDC chip is about the best featured player you're gonna find.
Yes, I have one. I think I paid $300 at Good Guys ($50 more or less was of no consequence so I didnt shop for any "bargain" or look for refurbished, ebay sales and all that stuff.)
How does it sound? Hey, I'm not gonna get into warm/bright, transparent/laidback...that all depends on your amp, speakers and setup and room acoustics.
It's a good, quiet CD player connected with 2 RS Gold audio cables to my Yamaha RX-V800 CD inputs. I was using my Panasoic RV30 DVD player for CD but wanted a dedicated player. I "think" I have analog passthru for 2-channel in the Yammie, but it's a subject of question. I think this particular mid-fi amp is of good enough build that internal DACs do the job without a person having get anal over analog to digital conversions and back.
I dont use a universal remote. The Denon remote is OK; It has remote tray open/close but NO on/off toggle on the remote. So what. Throw in 5 discs, hit play and the night is yours.
Oh, and I found I had bought a coupla HDCD discs unknowingly. I hear no night-and-day sound expansion. You just get the versatility.
------------------[Edited last by Bill Kane on July 25, 2001 at 11:22 PM]

I'd go with the Denon DCM-370. I bought one last October from an authorized Denon dealer in New Jersey for $250, so shop around. The '370 is an excellent player for the price. I find the sound to be surprisingly warm considering the low price. It has really surprised me. However, I don't find that HDCD makes a difference. In my experience, HDCD discs are well-mastered, but one doesn't need an HDCD-compatible player to reap the benefits. For example, I find that HDCD discs sound great on my Sony CDP-CA80ES changer (better than on the Denon, but the Sony is more expensive).
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KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

I have the Denon CD player which you speak of and i must say it is EXCELLENT. I have had mine for a little over a year and there is a light the shines on the player to tell if you are playing an HDCD disc. Also like for the HDCD logo on the backs of CD's.... You can't go wrong. Even the Burr Brown chip inside make regular CD sound great (not too harsh, but smooth).
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A man never chooses to live...but chooses to make a life.

Mike, Denon states on its web site that it does not authorize mail-order sales of its products (online or otherwise). As a result, you could have problems with Denon covering any repairs that may be necessary on the DCM-370 during the one-year warranty period if you buy from an unauthorized dealer. Nevertheless,www.soundpros.com sells Denon gear by mail, and I'm pretty sure they have the DCM-370. I ordered a Sony minidisc player from them a few weeks ago over the phone, and the individual I spoke with was very helpful. The component came in only a few days. I'm not sure Sound Pros is an authorized Sony dealer either, but I ordered from them because no one else had the minidisc player. So, if you have to order by mail, I would go with Sound Pros.
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KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

Seungsoo, as far as Sony goes, most of the components Sound Pros sells is ES, but if you click on the ES link, you will see some non-ES components. I noticed that they don't have the Denon DCM-370. I thought for sure they would have it. Their selection doesn't seem to be as good as it once was.
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KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

I bought the Denon 370 about a month ago and I am very happy with the quality and sound. For under $300 I can't complain at all.
I also thought about the NAD but heard too many quality control nightmares and don't want to bother with that.
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------ Dave ------
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im going to be using the analog outs on the player into the cd ins on the receiver. is that a better idea then using the digital outs into the receiver or not? i wont have it going into anything fancy, just cd player to receiver. no preamps or any of that funny stuff.

Mike, I don't know of other online dealers that sell Denon. Maybe other can help you here. As for the right way to connect the '370, what receiver do you have? If you have a lower-end model (no offense intended), then I would bet the DAC in the '370 is better than the one inyour receiver. However, no matter what receiver you have, you should try both connections to see which you prefer.
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KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

Would the DAC in the Denon CD player be any different from or better than the one in a Denon receiver (e.g. AVR2700)? That is, if you have a Denon receiver and connect your CD player - any type - to it via the digital connection, would it sound the same as using the analog outs in DCM-370?

gil: sorry, i havent even bought the receiver i'm saving up for yet. by the time i have the money for the denon yours will probably be long gone.
keith: lol dont worry man, i DO have a low end receiver right now, like a 3-5 year old sony Str-661D or something like that. BUT im saving for a NAD C350 int amp, i will probably have it in a few weeks. im sure that the denon's DACs are better than my sony's now, but when i get my NAD i'll have to see what i prefer. it's no big deal to me, i'll just try it both ways and see what i like. but i have to get the NAD first before i can buy the denon. and it'll take me a while to save up for the denon, my dad pays CHEAP.

Marvin,
I am almost certain that your receiver has a different DAC than the DCM-370. For one thing, the '370 offers HDCD decoding and your receiver doesn't. Anyway, it is hard to say a priori which component has the better DAC. You would simply have to try both and see which one you prefer. Note that if your receiver lacks an analog bypass mode, it will not be possible to properly evaluate the player's DAC. This is because if there is no analog bypass mode, the incoming analog signals will be routed through the receiver's A/D and D/A converters. This not only means you will be listening to the receiver's DAC, but there will be sound degradation as well.
Mike,
Hang on one second. The NAD C 350 is a stereo integrated amplifier, and as such, has no digital processing at all like what you see in home theater receivers. Thus, the C 350 has no DAC. It is a traditional analog stereo amp. As a result, it only has RCA inputs. Therefore, you will have no choice but to use the DAC in the Denon CD changer.
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KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime